20 Years Later
by Aryck-The-One
Summary: (The Owl House) Twenty years have passed since Camilia Noceda's daughter Luz disappeared without a trace. One day, a mysterious woman comes to her home with answers she's sought for so long...


**Notes on Shipping (10/7/2020): I feel I have to post this because of some of the "reviews" I've been getting, which have not in fact been reviews at all, but merely complaints about the shipping. Specifically, the fact that this fic has Luz with Gus, and not Amity.**

**First of all, I'm allowed to ship whatever I want. Second of all, I wrote this fic very early in the series, well before Lumity was canon and shipping was still very much up in the air for _The Owl House._ That said, I'm not changing it. I have nothing against Lumity, but this is my fan-fic, and I can have Luz with whoever I want, be it Gus, Willow, or even Edric or Emira.**

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**Author's Notes: When _Gravity Falls_ ended, it was bittersweet. Dipper and Mabel went back to Piedmont and left all of their newfound friends and family behind. I don't want that to happen with _The Owl House._ For Luz to just go back to Earth after spending the entire series learning how to become a witch would be very anti-climactic. Cartoons don't need to have moral, teach a lesson, or have any kind of message at the end... they just need to tell a good story. Anyway, here's just a quick idea I thought up on how Luz's story could end...**

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Camilia Noceda looked deceptively well for a woman of 55 years. A modest application of skin care products and hair dye kept her from appearing as wrinkled and grey as she ought to be. Normally Camilia wouldn't make such a fuss about her appearance, if not for her co-workers concerned remarks that she looked "withered".

The last twenty years hadn't been kind to Camilia. Without the makeup, she knew she would look much older than she should... because her fellow nurses at the hospital were right. Having seen herself in the mirror beneath the veneer of beauty products, she understood what her friends meant when they told her she _"looked as though the life had been drained from her"._ A gaunt face. Wispy grey hair. Sunken brown eyes, dead inside, devoid of purpose, hope, or happiness.

Camilia didn't go through all the trouble every morning to hide this deterioration out of vanity. No, she just didn't like being reminded of _why_ she looked the way she did.

One night, as she prepared for bed, Camilia saw that reminder staring at her from the mantle of her fireplace. As she walked by in her slippers and bathrobe, her short brown hair let out it's normally tight bun, her eyes were drawn to an old photograph; a much younger and brighter version of herself stared back, her arm draped around the shoulders of a tomboyish 14-year old girl.

Camilia picked up the framed photo, inwardly fighting to keep her emotions buried even as her lip trembled ever-so-slightly. It'd been 20 years since Luz had gone missing.

The days following Luz's disappearance were a haze to her now. Two weeks after her daughter supposedly left for summer camp, Camilia began to suspect that something wasn't right. Luz hadn't returned any of her texts for several days. Camilia called her several times, but received no answer. Finally, she called the camp and asked if she could speak to Luz.

The camp administrator told her Luz had never arrived.

The police investigated, but found nothing. There was no evidence that anything had happened at the camp; the other kids there claimed they never seen Luz, as did the staff, and there was no evidence that Luz had ever been there or even gotten on the bus.

The police did find footprints that they were certain belonged to her daughter leading away from their house, across the street and into the woods. They led to an old, abandoned shack hidden amongst the trees. Luz had definitely gone inside, but that's where the trail ended. The police theorized that Luz might've been lured to the shack and then kidnapped, but there was no sign of a struggle, nor any indication that she'd left the shack after going inside. After weeks of combing it over, they made the call to tear down the property and excavate the foundation... thinking that perhaps her remains might be found beneath the house.

Camilia remembered standing beside the excavation site, watching as dug deeper and deeper, fearing that any moment she would see her daughter's body rise out of the muck.

But Luz was not buried under the old shack, and there were no traces of her anywhere else in the woods. Some suggested that maybe she ran away.

Over the next few months Camilia and some friends put up posters, posted ads online, held candlelit vigils on live television, hoping and praying that Luz was still out there... that she might come home.

Years passed. A decade. Then two. Camilia's friends and colleagues told her that she should accept that Luz was never coming home. That she should move on. But Camilia couldn't... she couldn't accept the fact that her baby girl was dead. She had to be out there somewhere, still alive, somehow...

Camilia couldn't help but blame herself. If Luz had run away, it was because of her, for trying to send her to that camp so she could learn to be "normal". Luz had run away and gotten lost somehow, perhaps she lost her memory... that would explain why she never came home. Or maybe she just held a grudge against her for trying to send her away in the first place. Maybe Luz didn't want to come home because she had grown to hate her mother. That thought hurt more than anything else. Camilia would give anything to see her daughter again, to tell her that she was sorry.

A knock on the door snapped Camilia out of her reverie. Placing the photograph back on the mantle, she turned to the door. Who would be calling on her at this time of night?

Camilia peaked through the curtains to see who it was. A hooded figure was standing on her doorstep, it's features obscured by the dark of night. Stranger still, there were three more figures at the end of the walkway, hanging back. They too wore hooded cloaks. Two of them were much smaller than the other, and looked to be quite young.

Camilia turned to the door and opened it.

Standing before her was a tall, thin woman in a dark violet cloak. Her hood was pulled low over her eyes, but Camilia could see that she had a tanned complexion. In one hand she held a wooden staff with a slumbering owl carved out of the top.

"Misses Noceda?" The woman inquired.

"Yes, that's me," Camilia affirmed.

"I don't mean to intrude," said the mysterious stranger. "But... I was hoping I might speak with you about your missing daughter, Luz. May I come in?"

Camilia crooked her eyebrow at the strange woman. The other three figures at the end of the driveway shifted where they stood. The man placed his hands on the shoulders of the two children. All were eyeing her with apprehension from beneath their hoods.

"Who are you?" Camilia asked of the woman.

"I am Lady Clawthorne," the woman answered. "I only wish to speak to you. May I come in?"

Camilia stepped to the side, offering Lady Clawthorne passage through the door.

"Thank you. It was getting cold out there," she said. She silently beckoned the others to follow... but then stopped them at the threshold.

"Wait out here." She commanded them. "I won't be long."

"Care to tell me what this is about?" Camilia asked once Lady Clawthorne had situated herself on her couch. "What do you know about my daughter?"

"First, do you know what happened to her?"

Camilia shook her head. "No. She just disappeared one day. I'd sent her to camp for the summer, and then one day she stopped returning my texts, and... well, you ought to know the rest of the story."

"Do you believe she's still alive?" Lady Clawthorne asked.

"I do," Camilia confessed. "My friends tell me that she is dead, but I don't believe that. I know that she's still out there somewhere..."

"Why are you asking me these questions?" Camilia asked. "What are you supposed to be; some kind of psychic?"

"Not exactly," Lady Clawthorne replied evasively. "Do you miss her?"

"Of course," she answered. "Not a day goes by I don't... I want her to come home. I want to tell her I'm sorry for sending her away. Even if she ran away, I wouldn't be angry, I just- I just want her back!"

Camilia couldn't hold it in any longer. She lifted her glasses to wipe her eyes, as they'd begun to tear up. It was as if all her emotions from the last 20 years were held behind a dam, and now the dam was cracking, threatening to burst open at any moment.

"I am so sorry," said Lady Clawthorne. "For everything that I put you through... I don't know if you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me..."

"What are you talking about?" Camilia asked. "What is it that you have done to me? Are you... do you know what happened to my daughter...?"

Lady Clawthorne stood up, raising her hands up to her cowl as she did so.

"Mom," she said, dropping her hood. _"It's me."_

Camilia's eyes widened in shock. Though twenty years older, there was no mistaking her; it was Luz. She looked exactly the same as she did twenty years ago, even wearing her hair the same way.

Camilia didn't know how to respond. So may emotions whirled through her head all at once. She wanted to run up to Luz, embrace, tell her how much she'd missed her, ask her where she'd been all this time. But it was too much for her; so instead, she simply fainted.

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When Camilia Noceda awoke, it took her a few moments to remember where she was. She remembered the strange woman coming to her door and asking about her daughter. Then, after going back and forth for a few minutes, the woman had removed her hood, and it was Luz...

Luz. Camilia shot up. She'd been lying down on the couch. Luz was hovering over her, and the other three people from outside had gathered in her living room. Camilia observed a tall black man, two children- a boy and a girl who looked identical- and then her eyes fell on Luz, who eyed her mother with concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Luz..." Camilia breathed. "Oh my goodness, it's really you..."

"Yes, it's me!" Luz confirmed. "Are you alright? You just collapsed..."

"I'm not- I don't-" Camilia was still struggling to process everything that was happening right now. Twenty years of mourning her daughter, only to have her turn up now, alive and well... and who were these strangers she brought into her home?

Luz seemed to read her mother's thoughts, because she immediately straightened up and beckoned the man to come forward.

"Mom, this is my husband, Gus," Luz introduced. Camilia said nothing, her mind taking a full minute to process what Luz had just said. Her husband...

"Miss Noceda," said the man. "Augustus Clawthorne. It's so nice to finally meet you!"

He offered his hand to Camilia, and she shook it. It was then that Camilia noticed his ears; long, pointed, and elf-like. As were the boy and girl's.

"These are our children," said Luz, stepping behind the boy and girl.

"This is Hugo," she said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "And Hera."

The twins were the spitting image of their mother, with the same tanned complexion and deep brown eyes, but had pointed ears like their father. Each was wearing what looked like a school uniform of some sort; a black mantle, cowl, skirt, and boots, each worn over different-colored shirt and pants. The boy's were blue, while the girl's were red. Both smiled at her nervously. Camilia waved at them feebly, at a loss for words.

"How is this possible?" Camilia asked in disbelief. "Where have you been all this time?"

"It's... Luz began. "A really long story."

"I would like to hear it," Camilia insisted.

"Okay," Luz acknowledged. "Here goes..."

Camilia listened intently for nearly three hours as Luz recounted everything to her; following the little owl to that shack in the woods where she disappeared. Discovering the Boiling Isles. Meeting Eda, the witch she called the Owl Lady. How she came to be her apprentice. How she met her friends. How she began to learn magic. Their battle with the Emperor and Eda's sister Lilith to free the Boiling Isles from tyranny. Eda's passing. The King of Demons rising from the Bones of the Isles, destroying all but a few small towns and the local school of magic, as he reclaimed his rightful place as ruler of the Demon Realm. Luz and Gus, and their efforts to help rebuild, how they fell in love, married, and began a family. It all sounded like something out of a fantasy novel... but it was real.

Luz demonstrated her magic to Camilia, casting all manner of spells with her staff, or by tracing a circle of light in midair. Camilia watch in amazement as her daughter conjured a fireball in her hand and placed it amid the logs in the fireplace, levitated the furniture, and repaired the wear and tear to furnishings with twirl of her finger.

It had to be a dream, but it wasn't. Luz was here. She was alive. She had realized her dream of becoming a witch, something Camilia never would've thought possible. She had a husband and children of her own, and from what Luz had told her, she even had a house, and a job as the headmistress at this school of magic she called "Hexside"...

As Luz concluded her tale, the room fell quiet. Luz seemed to have grown uncomfortable, and when Camilia looked up, her daughter's face was one of guilt.

"Mom," she began. "I'm-"

"Don't," said Camilia, interrupting her. "You don't have to say anything."

"Yes, I do," Luz argued. "I am so sorry for what I put you through... all these years, I've been living this idyllic life, and I never stopped to think about you. I lied to myself, told myself you were better off without me. I had everything I ever wanted, and I was scared to lose it. I was selfish. I know there's nothing I can ever say or do to make up for it-"

"No, Luz; just stop," Camilia insisted. "It doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you are here now... and knowing that you were safe and happy is enough for me."

Luz had tears in her eyes now. She had expected her mother to hate her, to disown her for having put her through so much. But Camilia couldn't hold a grudge against her own daughter...

When Luz disappeared, she was only a scared, young girl with no friends and an uncertain future. Now she had returned as a woman, a wife, and a mother with a prestigious career. Camilia couldn't take that away from her. Whatever feelings of anger she might've had for what she'd been through the last 20 years, she pushed them away.

Luz and her mother embraced. The bond between mother and daughter was finally mended, and whatever feelings of guilt or anger that might've lingered evaporated on the spot.

"Come back with us," Luz said as she pulled away.

"With you?" Camilia asked. "To the Boiling Isles?"

"Yeah!" Luz affirmed. "We've got plenty of room at the Owl House. Come on, mom; you don't want to live in this house all by yourself anymore, do you?"

Camilia paused for a moment to think. She thought she would like to be closer to her grandchildren... and there was nothing left for her on Earth, anyway. She had few friends, fewer who would care to see her as she had been the last 20 years, her parents were dead, and she had no brothers or sisters. She was also behind on her mortgage payments, and on the verge of losing her job at the hospital.

"Alright," said Camilia. "I'll go."

Camilia set about packing her things, emptying her drawers and cabinets of all her belongings. Luz used her magic to send everything ahead to the Owl House, twirling her finger at her mother's bags, making them vanish in a flash of light.

As Camilia collected her purse and pulled on her coat, Luz withdrew a strange-looking key from her cloak, with a bloodshot yellow eye set into the handle. At the same time, Gus took a carved wooden case he'd been carrying and placed it on the floor.

Luz pressed her thumb against the eye, and the case unfurled in a wooden door, which opened to reveal a glowing portal.

"Ready?" Luz asked her mother. Camilia nodded. There was no need to take a look around; she'd never cared much for this house, anyway. The time had come to leave this decrepit ruin behind, to live with her daughter, her son-in-law, and her grandchildren. To live for the first time in over 20 years.

Camilia stepped through the portal, guided by her daughter's hand on her shoulder. Gus, Hera, and Hugo followed suite, and the doorway collapsed behind them.

Days passed. Word soon spread that Camilia Noceda had gone missing, just like her daughter. Once again, the police were left dumbfounded as to what had happened. No signs of foul play whatsoever. Some theorized that Camilia had simply taken off in search of her daughter, others wondered if she might've taken her own life.

_"She's in a better place now,"_ one of her colleagues would say at the hospital where Camilia had worked, weeks later. If only they knew...

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**Author's Notes: Since we now know what Eda's last name is, I decided to change it. It seems more appropriate. Why put Luz with Gus instead of Willow or Amity, you ask? Because I can. Shipping in The Owl House hasn't really taken off yet, but a handful of people are already shipping Luz x Willow or Luz x Amity... I'm throwing my lot in with Luz x Gus.**


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